16-19 Bursary Fund Examples of Good Practice
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CORE Metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk Provided by Digital Education Resource Archive 16-19 Bursary Fund Examples of Good Practice April 2013 Contents Introduction 3 Eligibility 4 Assessment and Payment of Bursaries 9 Communications, Governance and Monitoring 14 Further information 16 2 Introduction This document provides practical examples of institutions using the 16-19 Bursary Fund Guide to develop their own innovative schemes to help students who most need financial support to participate in further education or training. The 16-19 Bursary Fund Guide for 2013/14 re-emphasises the importance of ensuring available funds are targeted at those students experiencing the greatest financial disadvantages, that the amounts allocated are sufficient to enable these students to participate in education, and that the availability of funding is communicated effectively to prospective and actual students before, during and after the enrolments process. This good practice guide is aimed at schools, colleges, academies, training institutions, independent institutions and local authorities (collectively referred to as institutions in this guide) to help them to administer the 16-19 Bursary Fund in the 2013/14 academic year. It supports the Department’s updated 16-19 Bursary Fund Guide for 2013/14 and should be read alongside the accompanying 2013/14 16-19 Bursary Fund Q&A for institutions and local authorities. It updates the 2012/13 good practice guide, which was based upon interviews with thirty institutions early in 2012 and input from stakeholders, including the National Children and Adult Services, Barnardo’s, the Association of Colleges, the Association of School and College Leaders and the Who Cares Trust. This year’s version draws upon a further series of interviews with institutions late in 2012. We would like to acknowledge and to thank all those institutions who have given us permission to use their examples of best practice in this document: Bexley College, Bolton College, Bradford Academy, Bridgewater College, Cambridge Heath College, Chew Valley School, Dover Girls’ Grammar School, East Kent College, Guildford College Hertford Regional College, Lakes College, Longley Park Sixth Form College, Macclesfield College, Mid-Kent College, Newcastle-Under-Lyme College, Oldham College, Queen Mary’s College, Regent College, Strode College, Sunderland College, Walford and North Shropshire College, and Wiltshire College. We would also like to thank our local authority contacts in South Gloucestershire, Stoke on Trent, Torbay and Warwickshire whose examples of good practice appear in this guide. This guide is by no means exhaustive and we would welcome other examples of how the needs of financially disadvantaged students have been met. Please send these to [email protected] 3 Eligibility Vulnerable Student Bursaries The 16-19 Bursary Fund Guide for 2013/14 outlines the following defined vulnerable groups: . Young people in care, . Care leavers, . Young people in receipt of Income Support or Universal Credit . Disabled young people in receipt of Employment Support Allowance who are also in receipt of Disability Living Allowance or Personal Independence Payments. There may be some young people affected by benefit changes in 2013 and therefore students in the following situations are also eligible for a vulnerable student bursary: . Young people who receive a Universal Credit payment in their own name. Young people who are disabled and receive Employment Support Allowance and a Personal Independence Payment in their own name. Where students fall into one or more of these groups, they are eligible for a bursary of £1,200 (which should be calculated on a pro-rata basis where appropriate, at a maximum rate of £40 per week). These students may be harder to identify or engage in education and are less likely to be aware of the support available from the 16-19 Bursary Fund. Working proactively with local agencies like social services, young people’s advice and support services or local authority looked after children’s education services and care leaver services, provides the best way of identifying young people who may be eligible for vulnerable student bursaries and encouraging them to apply for support. These agencies may also be able to help them complete their application forms and provide evidence of the young person’s status. Below are some examples of institutions working with local services to identify young people in these defined groups. Since the 16-19 Bursary Fund was introduced, the college has worked with Connexions advisers and the council’s social services team. Together these services have helped the college identify young people who fall into the defined vulnerable groups and encourage them to enrol at the college and apply for funding. Bolton College, Bolton General FE College 4 The College works closely with the care teams in the local boroughs which refer young people in care or recent care leavers to the College and encourage them to apply for vulnerable group bursaries during the enrolment process. Clear and simplified information is available to all staff and learners about financial support (including vulnerable group bursaries) and is on display throughout the College as well as on the College website and in social media. The process of application and award is simple, effective and responsive to learners’ needs. Hertford Regional College, Hertfordshire General FE College Information on the 16-19 Bursary Fund is included in a bulletin to social worker contacts. This provides information on key events and is published three times during the academic year. This ensures that social workers are updated on key information on the College’s bursary fund and key dates. East Kent College General FE College Young people who might be eligible for a vulnerable student bursary are identified through the College’s Inclusion Manager, who has excellent links with local agencies in contact with vulnerable young people (like the YMCA, Social Services and Youth Offending Teams). This helps the College to identify eligible young people before enrolment so that they become aware of this support early on. They are then assisted in completing the application process through enrolment. Guildford College, Surrey General FE College Social workers who work with the most disadvantaged young people help the College to identify potential vulnerable bursary recipients prior to admission. Queen Mary’s College, Basingstoke Sixth Form College Torbay’s Care to Community team has a joint working protocol with the local further education college that includes information sharing and joint working to manage problems with attendance, behaviour, punctuality or performance. The Virtual School in Stoke on Trent has developed a 16-18 learner support agreement for young people in care and recent care leavers in partnership with further education colleges, work-based learning providers and the careers service. The agreement ensures young people are identified and well supported through the Post 16 application process. As part of this agreement, young people also have an educational pathway plan which tracks support (including financial support) and progress throughout their time in further education or training. 5 Discretionary Bursaries Any eligible student may apply to their institution for a discretionary bursary. These are intended for students most in need of financial support and the eligibility criteria needs to reflect local barriers to participation and the individual circumstances that may prevent young people from participating in their chosen course. The amount allocated needs to be sufficient to enable students to complete their course (for example, by helping them with the cost of travelling to and from college, buying a meal whilst there, or covering the cost of any equipment or clothing they might need for their course). Here are some examples of institutions ensuring that discretionary funding is reaching students most in need of financial help. Eligibility for discretionary bursaries is based on annual household incomes (verified by Tax Credits forms, a P60, or 3-6 months’ worth of bank statements) in three bands: Band 1- annual household income of £15,860 or less (these students receive a daily lunch allowance, a contribution towards cost of a bus pass if they live over two miles from college, payment for educational visits during the year, a contribution towards exam re-sits, and reimbursement of the cost of visiting university open days or interviews). Students with annual household incomes of less than £12,000, and between £12,000 and £15,860, receive tiered weekly payments subject to attendance and behaviour conditions. Band 2 – annual household income between £15,860-£20,817 (these students receive the same allowances and contributions as Band 1 – but smaller contributions towards bus travel, educational visits and re-sits. Band 3 – annual household income between £20,817 and £25,521 (these students receive a daily lunch allowance). Students can apply more than once if their circumstances change. If this happens they are reassessed by divisional administrators which may necessitate a one-to- one interview with the Head of Progress and Welfare, particularly if there are exceptional circumstances. Regent College, Leicester Sixth Form College Students whose household income is less than £20,000 a year are eligible for discretionary bursaries. The College asks for proof of income for working families,